16 February 2021, Dubai, UAE: The IFZA Gold Cup 2021 kicked off to a blistering start having four teams compete on the first day of the tournament.
The first match of the tournament showed strong gameplay from Bangash Polo team with the opening goal from Benjamin Panelo followed by another from its Patron – Haider Bangash. The following chukkers saw IFZA-Mahra Polo team struggle to close in on the 5 goal lead of Bangash by halftime. The golden chukker for IFZA-Mahra Polo was on the fourth as the team demonstrated an amazing comeback with 4 consecutive goals from Isidro Strada and the scores were tied at 8 goals. The last chukker was a race for the win with Bangash Polo team defending and extending their lead until the end at 12 goals to 9.
Match Progression: 2 – 1 | 5 – 2 | 8 – 3 | 8 – 8 | 12 – 9
Top Scorer: Benjamin Panelo, 7 goals
Ghantoot Polo‘s debut game in the Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series 2021 was against Habtoor Polo. The first chukker was on almost equal footing having 2 goals each from Facundo Sola and Nasser Al Shamsi and a penalty goal from Pablo Llorente. Ghantoot Polo took off at the second chukker with 3 goals from Marcos Araya and they kept their lead until halftime.
With 7 minutes left on the clock, Habtoor Polo tried to close the gap in scores but was maintained by Ghantoot Polo as they delivered runaway goals that sealed their first win in the tournament.
Match Progression: 3 – 2 | 6 – 3 | 8 -5 | 9 – 6 | 12 – 9
Top Scorers: Marcos Araya & Facundo Sola, 6 goals
The IFZA Gold Cup 2021 will continue on the 17th of February on Field 3 with a match between Dubai Wolves by CAFU and Zedan Polo teams at 14:00 followed by UAE Polo and Abu Dhabi teams at 16:00.
Images: Tony Belot and Khalil Ali / ShineTV
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